“I don’t know. It feels like a setup. I don’t trust her.”
“I don’t either, but she did let me go. She could’ve sent me to the lab.”
“I know. Something about her is really suspicious.”
“Agreed.” Lara slowed. “I need to talk to her about the lab again, but I’m not sure I trust her in the cave.”
“If we meet with her, it will be on our home turf. At the Sen Pal compound.”
“Good idea. We’ll outnumber her and her people.”
The splashing of water grew louder as they approached the embankment where the creek wended through the northeast part of the forest. Mason stopped. They’d have to cross on rocks and he hoped he could maintain his balance on his injured ankle. Last thing he needed was to injure his foot more by twisting his ankle on a moss-slick stone.
Or embarrass the shit out of himself by falling.
“I’m tired of this.” He sighed his complaint. “I want to be healed. Now.”
“I know. You’ve said it a few times.”
“I’m frustrated. Sorry.”
He’d apologized to the lioness. Embarrassment prickled his cheeks. He wasn’t used to deferring to anyone, except occasionally to his brother.
“It’s okay. I’d be upset, too. Be glad you aren’t human. That’d be worse—you’d barely have started healing. You’d have a boot cast for weeks, probably.”
“I’m glad I’m not human for more reasons than that.”
“So am I.”
He couldn’t argue with her reasoning. Things could be worse, but not by much. The rain had picked up and both he and Lara were drenched. Her hair hung in dark, wet clumps. He tried not to stare at her chest. The rain had soaked her T-shirt, and the outline of her bra was visible. Pebbled nipples thrust through her shirtfront.
He cleared his throat and looked away. “Let’s cross here.” He pointed to the creek.
The ground up to the water was mostly flat, with only a sprinkling of stones and a small patch of grass and messy leaves.
“Can you step on those rocks without falling?” She looked up at him, her eyes wide in question.
“I think so. Have to cross somewhere, and this is one of the narrowest places in this area.”
“Yeah. Well, let’s try not to injure you even more. Hold on to me.”
He grasped her arm and stepped closer to the water, the ground underfoot damp and a bit muddy. The wet leaves slid from under him and his feet went up before he could catch himself.
His ass hit the ground and Lara tumbled down beside him in a splat. He rubbed his elbow and grimaced.
She wiped her muddy hands on her shirt.
“Thanks a lot.” She frowned.
“I’m okay, nothing’s broken. Thanks for asking.” He sat up, the world spinning a little as pain shot through his foot. He hadn’t hurt it badly, but it was definitely tender.
“I’m glad you’re okay.” She moved closer to him. “Look at my hands.” She wiggled muddy fingers in front of his face.
Then her lips were on his. Soft and pliable, she pressed against him, pushing him back onto the ground. Her tongue slipped between his lips and he sucked it in gently, his hand on the back of her head. He pulled her tight to him, wishing he could flip her onto her back, underneath him.
Rain ran down his face and between their lips, but he didn’t care. Lara felt small in his arms, and yet she’d been the one to kiss him with a passion he’d not sensed she possessed. He tugged her close again, savoring the feel of her against him. Warm. Soft. Wet. He leaned into the kiss and closed his eyes. She held him tightly and a slight moan escaped her lips.
He pulled back.
“What was that for?” His breath came in small gasps.
“I don’t know.” Lara stood. Mud splotched her clothing and skin.
He nodded. He didn’t either, but it sure had been good.
* * *
What in the ever-loving hell had gotten into her? Lara shook her head. Had she lost her mind? She couldn’t wait to get him back to the pride and try to put the incident behind them.
I kissed him. Oh my gods.
She snuck a glance at Mason. They had hardly spoken since the kiss.
Gods, he was so good-looking—dark hair and a sleek muscularity that set her heart racing. He’d felt as good in her arms as she’d imagined he would.
Head down, he trudged on. They were almost to the compound and exhaustion shone in his features, likely mirroring her own tiredness. One more hill then through the last stand of trees. The compound fence was already visible, though it looked a million miles away.
They were drenched, caked in drying mud, and tired. Both would need a shower before they could go to bed. Lara rubbed her arms to warm herself. As hot as summer in Deep Creek was, the dampness from all the rain sent a chill through her body. A hot shower would feel great on aching muscles and being clean would feel even better.
An image of showering with Mason popped into her mind, but she blinked it away. A kiss was one thing but showering naked was quite another. She hid her grin. Sometimes her thoughts were quite naughty. Too bad she’d never get the chance to enact her fantasies with Mason. She held a branch back out of the way so he could pass. Even if she wanted to be involved with Mason, it was impossible.
He’d never want to be with her if he knew her secret.
Why did she torture herself with fantasy? And why had she dared kiss him? Would he distance himself now or pretend that the kiss never happened?
She had to stop thinking about having a relationship with Mason or anyone else in the pride. It wasn’t her destiny, and she knew that.
She set her jaw. No husband, no children. No house with a fence or cabin in the woods. She was fated to be alone—all because of a decision her parents made before she was even born. She hoped they’d had no idea what they had cursed her with. If they knew, it was cruel. The lions simply didn’t take in shifters with her issue.
“Hey, I’ve been waiting on you two.” Marco stepped into their path. “What took so long?”
Lara jerked out of her reverie. “Hey, Marco.”
Mason shot her a look. “Hard to walk all this way with a hurt foot. Took a lot longer than I expected.”
“I see that. I offered to pick you up at the road.” Marco stopped. “That would’ve saved some time and energy.”
“It’s okay. I needed the exercise.” Mason hobbled closer to Marco. “I’m glad to be home now.”
“He’s still in pain,” Lara blurted. “Don’t let him fool you.”
“My brother can’t fool me.” Marco laughed. “He may try, but I can see right through him. I can tell he’s hurting. Why are you so dirty?”
“You two stop. I’ll be okay.” Mason pulled away from her grip.
“Have you been mud wrestling?” Marco grinned.
“No!” Mason and Lara answered in unison. They glanced at each other, then back to Marco.
“It’s the rain.” Lara pushed her hair back, the flush of embarrassment climbing up her neck. Marco was trying to get a rise out of them. “It’s...wet.”
“Yes, rain is wet.” Amusement sang in Marco’s features.
“What I mean is, it’s muddy.”
“It’s not raining mud.”
“We had to cross the creek and Mason fell. It was really muddy on the banks and the rocks were slippery.”
Mason nodded. “It’s slick. Fortunately, I didn’t hurt myself worse. I’m not sure I could’ve stood having another injury. I’m tired of being crippled.”
“I’m sure.”
Lara smirked. Mason wasn’t going to tell Marco about the kiss—at least not in front of her. He’d probably deny it if she mentioned it.
Fine by her. She didn’t need his sympathy, and the kiss was just a kiss.
Chapte
r Fourteen
“Several of the traps have disappeared.” Cara folded her arms and scanned the conference room. Everyone looked like they hadn’t had enough coffee. She didn’t mention that she had smelled shifter near one of the missing traps. “Blood was found on the ground near where one was located. We noticed it missing about a week ago.”
“Humph.” Dan leaned forward. “Those animals are smart.”
“Some of them sure seem to be.” Cara stared out the window into the parking lot. They seemed so far from camping, almost like it hadn’t happened. Yet the pall of what she was doing to the shifter community hung over her like a dark blanket, heavy and musty.
The team had gathered around the conference table at the office to get an update on infringements in Deep Creek. The park had more animals than other areas the company had put pipelines in, other than the large line they put through a park in Alaska. Herds of moose and packs of wolves had made that build dangerous.
There had been no research facility there, though Cara had smelled some grizzly shifters near. One worker had been mauled with a claw slice across his face and the oil company had to pay a lot of money out in a settlement with the family.
AllOil had decided then and there that taking out the native animals had to be done when a pipeline went in. They never mentioned the plan to any regulators because the last thing they needed was environmentalists dogging them any more than they already did. If they ever found out about the traps or the capture of animals, AllOil’s future in any national park would be questionable.
Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
“Traps just disappeared?” One of the younger men spoke up. “That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“It doesn’t.” Cara sighed. “We need to hope they weren’t reported to the park rangers.”
“What if they were?”
“If they were, there’s a risk of the press picking up the information and running stories about illegal traps in Deep Creek. They’d have to prove the traps were ours, but we don’t want them snooping around.”
Dan grumbled. “You better take care of this, Cara. We pay you too much for this to get fucked up by media or stupid protestors.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Cara glanced from the parking lot to the pad on the table in front of her. Things had gotten more complicated since she’d met Lara. The guilt she already carried had become more of a burden and she longed to be done with AllOil and Deep Creek for good.
Everyone was working seventy to eighty hours a week to get the line in and carrying oil before someone filed an injunction or lawsuit. Once they were running oil, they’d be less likely to be shut down and the company knew it. The pipeline was going in at up to fifteen yards a day, which was unheard of in forest terrain.
The situation with the traps was confounding. Animals wouldn’t be smart enough to pull the traps away and hide them. Something else was up and she figured she knew what it was. She couldn’t let the team in on it, though—the company was keeping the intel under wraps so everyone could focus on the project, not animal recovery. The shifters were either taking the traps or reporting them to the park service. Neither was good for AllOil.
“I’m not a fan of being eaten by a wild animal. We still don’t know how that lion escaped from the cage. We know she didn’t unlock it herself.” Dan’s voice held a hint of suspicion.
“The cage must not have been locked, or the latch wasn’t all the way closed.” Cara stood and paced in front of the whiteboard. “We’re lucky she didn’t attack anyone when she got out.”
“I’d have shot her.” Slade tapped his pen on the table. “If she’d come after me.”
“Me, too.” Dan glared. “Now I have to worry that she’s out there with her mate and other lions just waiting to attack when we aren’t watching our backs.”
Cara shook her head. “I doubt it. The lions are probably staying as far from us as they can.”
“Good.”
Cara pulled the cap off the whiteboard marker. “Let’s talk about animal control.”
* * *
Lara leaned back on the rock, letting its warmth permeate her muscles. It’d been a whole day since she’d kissed Mason and neither of them had mentioned anything about the incident.
Or repeated the kiss.
It was like it’d never happened.
A few wispy clouds trailed through the sky in swirls of condensate. The moon was already up, bright and full. The forest wasn’t completely dark yet but almost. Moonlight would paint the trails silver tonight. Amy had been due to have Noah during the full moon but he’d come a little early.
If Lara ever had a cub, would he be melanistic like Mason? She shoved the thought away.
The amount of time she spent thinking about kissing Mason annoyed her. Not just kissing him, but everything. Mason this and Mason that. She couldn’t shake the thoughts. Couldn’t push away the feeling of his soft lips and the firm grip he held on her head as his fingers twined in her hair. She sighed.
If only they could give dating a chance. It would never happen, though, and she needed to accept the fact that Mason wouldn’t want her if he knew the truth. No point in continuing to daydream and wish.
Her wish wasn’t going to come true, no matter how heartfelt she was.
Lara crossed her foot over her knee and closed her eyes. Birdsong echoed in the distance as the animals got ready for bed or evening hunting. Her lioness prowled, hissing to be turned loose in the green forest to roam among the trees.
She felt one hundred percent lion, but deep inside she knew she wasn’t.
Her lioness was so strong, but not untainted. The other lions didn’t know the truth, though Lara figured Maximillian suspected she wasn’t pure lion shifter. She’d been with the pride since she was young, but no one had ever questioned her heritage. Max might have known the truth—they’d never discussed it. Maybe that was why he was so protective.
Maybe that was why he encouraged her to be the strongest lioness in his pride. He was proud of her. But he never told anyone anything, suspicion or truth. Now it was too late. He was gone.
It was the dark secret no one knew. The secret that kept her from being with Mason. He’d never want a mate that wasn’t pureblooded. Even having a bear mate was better than a mate who was mixed.
She was surprised the twins didn’t scent her out and find out her secret. Maybe they had no reason to suspect any lion wasn’t pure and weren’t looking for any signs. Regardless, she needed to keep it that way now.
Kisses would need to be forgotten, as painful as that would be. And there could be no more. It was too painful to taste what might have been, and then realize it never could be.
The bright moon flickered behind the trailing clouds and she watched them move away like velvet curtains being drawn from a stage. A few stars peppered the sky and every so often, a firefly blipped and flashed overhead.
She sighed as the warmth from the rock helped her relax. Being out in nature was the one thing she could count on to make her feel better. No matter what was going on, meditating and resting outside helped improve her mood. Nature and fresh air always helped.
It was almost time to destroy the pipeline, and she hoped they’d be ready. The structure seemed to grow longer as if by magic. Every day, more of the metal snaked through the woods, over creeks and paths and ravines that made up Deep Creek.
The march was in place. Her lionesses would lead it—she’d be helping out with the pipeline destruction. They could handle it. They’d already been working on logistics like having portable toilets along the route. They’d had cases of bottled water donated and delivered, and Derek had four wildlife groups coming into town. The local news had run some lead-up stories and it looked like they’d have people coming into town to march, too.
With things going so well, why was she so nervous?
She folded her hands behind her head and stared at the craters on the moon, the purple shadows tinting the crater walls. The lunar surface had taken quite a beating and still was one of the most beautiful objects in nature. She hoped the park would survive the onslaught of ugliness taking it over.
She sat up and dusted off her back. Looking out over the valley, Deep Creek seemed to wend its way into forever. Never-ending and yet fragile. It wouldn’t take much to totally screw up the environment and then the inhabitants. The land held a false peace and she was lucky to call the forest home.
She couldn’t remember anything earlier. She didn’t know where her original home was.
One thing she knew for sure, though. If the lions found out she was part tiger, they likely wouldn’t let her stay with the pride. They wanted lions, nothing more. Alicia would barely be accepted, if ever, by some.
She couldn’t let that happen.
Once the laboratory, the traps and the pipeline had been taken care of, maybe she did need to go back to being a lioness and nothing more. Her pride job of Enforcer had taken its toll and she wasn’t sure she wanted to train the lionesses anymore. Preparing for the battle a year ago had been strenuous and the lionesses had become adept with their fighting skills. They didn’t need her anymore. Maybe after all the hype was over, she’d step down as Enforcer and go to work at the little used book store in Henredon. They always had a help-wanted sign in the window and she loved to read.
Whatever happened, she had to feel needed and useful. But first, she had to help save Deep Creek.
Chapter Fifteen
Lara stole a glance at Mason. He sat cross-legged on the blanket she’d spread on the ground. The warm air more than made up for the damp earth though the humidity kept her skin cool to the touch. It’d feel good to be completely dry and back inside her house. Evening in the forest was spectacular but it was also tiring and reconnaissance was hard work.
Not that they’d found anything.
Mason, back straight, sat like he was a man on a mission. He wasn’t relaxing. He was hunting. They’d spent six hours traipsing around the area near the little tent, looking for traps or other signs of humans. Mason was strung tight as a bow.
Claiming His Lioness (Shifter Wars) Page 15